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Richard Armitage

Richard Armitage

Richard Armitage stars as Francis Dolarhyde in Season 3 of HANNIBAL. Dolarhyde is a serial killer known as The Tooth Fairy due to his unsightly habit of biting the skin of his victims.

He is best known internationally for his role as Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson's film trilogy adaptation of THE HOBBIT. He received an Empire Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for this role in THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG.

Armitage was born and raised in Leicester, England. He attended Pattison College in Binley Road, Coventry, and studied at LAMDA (the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art). His first appearance on the screen was in a small role in THIS YEAR'S LOVE (1999), but it was SPARKHOUSE (2002) that gave him a break-through role as the charming but a bit odd character of John Standring opposite Sarah Smart.

After two guest-roles in COLD FEET (1997) in 2003 and BETWEEN THE SHEETS (2003), he landed a role as Steven in FROZEN (2005) which eventually led him to play the lead role in the big hit BBC drama NORTH & SOUTH (2004). His other television credits include SPOOKS (U.S. title: MI-5) (2002-2010) and STRIKE BACK (2010-2011).

In 2006, while working on the TV show ROBIN HOOD, he was asked to record audiobooks for the first season of that series. Since then, he has recorded many notable audiobooks as well as worked as a narrator on many TV and radio shows and advertisements. His flair for speaking in a multitude of dialects, accents, and voices has garnered him numerous accolades for his narration skills including the 2014 Best Audiobook of the Year Award from Audible.com for his recording of "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel."

Armitage returned to the stage in 2014 playing John Proctor in the highly successful and critically acclaimed production of "The Crucible" at The Old Vic. For this performance, he received an Olivier Award for Best Actor nomination.